June 2008 MMA News Archive

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International Fight League star Mike Ciesnolevicz had quite a weekend. He fought main events in two different states and in two different weight classes saying, “If I can fight two times this weekend, I’ll be happy. That’s how they used to do it back in the day.”
On Friday, he earned the Courage Fighting Championships 205-pound title by submitting Andrew Force in Decatur, Ill. Then, he was off to Iowa to headline the Extreme Challenge 100 event in Davenport, defeating Matt Andersen as a heavyweight. He tipped the scales at 206 pounds.

PRLog (Press Release) – Jun 26, 2008 – Los Angeles, CA - A new reality series featuring Amanda Lucas and eleven other female Mixed Martial Artists is being produced by Los Angeles based production company One Giant Leap Media. Promoter Belinda Dunne brought together two teams (USA vs Australasia) for the continental ‘Princesses of Pain’ Championship and the cameras were there to capture all of the drama, including Lucas’ mixed martial arts debut in Auckland on May 31st.

With champion Jackson and challenger Griffin acting as coaches on the umpteenth season of "The Ultimate Fighter" -- there's been little palpable anticipation for Jackson's first title defense in nearly a year.

"That fight with me and Forrest ain't going to the judges. I'm going to be victorious and I'm going to win that fight in exciting manner; whether it's knockout, TKO, submission or getting him to tap out, something's going down. Something is going to happen. Forrest ain't going to make it to the 5th,"

"After the fight, I was able to control myself through the live interview, but when I got backstage, I was a mess. This fight was the only thing that has gone right for me in the last year," stated UFC middleweight contender Drew McFedries as he talked about his impressive win over Marvin Eastman at the TUF 7 Finale.

There are a number of reasons not to miss the mega mixed martial arts extravaganza, "Affliction Banned," this July 19th at Honda Center in Anaheim, California - not least of which is the unbelievable main event - a dream match-up between heavyweight champs Fedor Emilianenko and Tim Sylvia.

Jens Pulver can sum up his performance against Urijah Faber last month in a single word – slow.
The former UFC lightweight champion was beaten for the first time at 145 pounds., when Faber scored a unanimous decision in Sacramento June 1 in World Extreme Cagefighting's biggest event to date.

International Fight League star Mike Ciesnolevicz had quite a weekend. He fought main events in two different states and in two different weight classes saying, “If I can fight two times this weekend, I’ll be happy. That’s how they used to do it back in the day.”
On Friday, he earned the Courage Fighting Championships 205-pound title by submitting Andrew Force in Decatur, Ill. Then, he was off to Iowa to headline the Extreme Challenge 100 event in Davenport, defeating Matt Andersen as a heavyweight. He tipped the scales at 206 pounds.
That is pretty impressive

It seems that Antonio SIlva has an opponent for his fight on EliteXC's 7/26 card to determine the promotion's first heavyweight champion. Silva & Justin Eilers have verbally agreed to the fight, and it's likely to be signed soon even though Eilers was not EXC's first choice of opponents for SIlva.

Former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin (23-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) will restart his quest for another title shot this fall -- most likely at a UFC 88 event in Atlanta -- though it won't necessarily come at 185 pounds.
A source closed to the Sept. 6 event tells MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that Franklin has been targeted for the event, and the search for an opponent "is in full swing."
However, when contacted for comment, J.T. Stewart, Franklin's business manager, said nothing definitive has been decided and that he had no other comment.
UFC 88 currently features a main event between Chuck Liddell and Rashad Evans, and the winner could be in line for a title shot with either current light heavyweight champ Quinton Jackson or Forrest Griffin, who headline this weekend's UFC 86 event in Las Vegas.
Franklin will likely be slotted for UFC 88's co-main event.
Franklin, who lost his title and a subsequent rematch to current middleweight champ Anderson Silva, most recently scored a second-round TKO of Travis Lutter at UFC 83. After the victory, Franklin told MMAjunkie.com that a third fight with Silva probably wouldn't be marketable. Many have suggested that a move to the light-heavyweight class could open some new possibilities, though Franklin has been quick to dismiss the suggestion.
However, according to our source, he and the organization are now considering a move to 205 pounds, though it wouldn't necessarily be a permanent move and could simply depend on whether or not he thinks the match-up makes sense.
Although he's one of the sport's bigger middleweights and sheds considerable weight to make the 185-pound limit, Franklin recently told MMAjunkie.com that his body is better suited for the middleweight division.
"I've been at 185 (pounds) for several years," Franklin said in April. "I think that over the past couple years, I've really changed my body composition. It used to kill me to make weight, but now it's much easier than it was three years ago, and I think it's because my body's changed a lot. I just don't think I'm big enough to compete effectively as a light heavyweight anymore."
Franklin last competed at 205 pounds at The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale in April 1005. He called it a "special case" since the first-ever Spike TV broadcast would reach millions of viewers and could catapult his popularity. After defeating Shamrock, the victory did just that.
Franklin said if a similar opportunity presented itself, he may be inclined to take it.

“I need to come back with wins. I’ll fight anybody. My goal is to be the champion. When I get a title shot, this is my goal. I had a long way to go to get a title shot, and I’ll do it again. I believe I need a couple of wins. And then more and more fights I need to win…. I’m here. I’m training hard to come back with my best condition to give my best show to my fans. I need to come back with wins, but my goal is still to win a belt.”
– Former number one heavyweight contender Gabriel Gonzaga tells Sherdog.com that he intends to once again challenge for the division championship. “Napao” lost his bid to claim the strap against Randy Couture at UFC 74: “Respect” in 2007. He followed that up with another loss to Fabricio Werdum earlier this year. Now he’s set to take on Justin McCully at UFC 86: “Griffin vs. Jackson” at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 5. The journey begins all over again. Can he make it?

**NEW Interview with UFC fighter - Jorge Gurgel**
Check out the whole Interview on
From part of the interview:
"“I’m very excited. Saturday can not come any sooner. I’ve been here in Seattle preparing for the last 6 weeks straight. It’s been the best training camp I’ve ever had. I finally have a coach that is going to be my perminente coach. That finally, I think, is going to make me fight to my potential and do what I’ve always planned to do. I’ve been very disappointed with my sub par performances in my UFC career so now, I’m ready." - Jorge Gurgel
Interview done by MMATurf's own Penny Buffington...Check out the whole interview as well as many more on

Now that Josh Thomson has become Strikeforce's new world lightweight champion, and now that Bobby Southworth has successfully avenged a previous loss and defended his light heavyweight title, can Strikeforce keep the meaningful title fights coming?
I discussed the topic in this week's MMA Insider column for the Dayton Daily News.
Over the next year, finding title contenders could be one of the organization's biggest challenges.

The odd series of events surrounding veteran fighter Drew Fickett (34-5) continue to develop as Mark Pavelich, owner and president of the Canadian-based Maximum Fighting Championship (MFC), has declared Fickett out of a scheduled July 25 bout with Ryan Ford.

The mixed martial arts business has seen its ups and downs during its short history. This list is intended to capture the fighters who had the biggest influence in creating interest in the sport and drawing money.
This list is not intended to be a simple listing of the fighters who drew the most money. If that were the sole criterion, the list would look significantly different. Rather, this list is designed to capture the fighters who were most important in shaping the business. Fighters who sparked increases in business and paved the way for bigger things are given additional weight even if they drew less money at the time.
The four fighters who came the closest to making the list but fell short were Masakatsu Funaki, Wanderlei Silva, Matt Hughes and Kid Yamamoto.

"Stranger still is an auspicious lack of promotion for Jackson, who has easily earned an hour's worth of highlights in his Pride career. Why not package a propaganda piece prior to the show that elaborates on his impressive history? Wasn't that more or less the point of acquiring that video library?"

Forrest only has two likely ways to pull out a victory in this fight grind out a decision or catch Quinton in a submission during a scramble. Forrest just doesn't knock people out, especially block heads like Rampage. He has excellent ground skills, but is self admittedly lacking in the area of takedowns. He will have the gas tank to go full speed with Jackson for five rounds and after seeing both of their last fights it's a very likely outcome.